Following her historic Oscar win for Best Actress for her performance as Leticia Musgrave in Monster’s Ball, Halle Berry went on to portray NSA Agent Jinx Johnson in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day.
However, audiences could have potentially seen Berry’s Bond breakout character in more films down the line. In a recent interview with Variety, longtime Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson revealed they were eager to give Berry her own film. However, MGM turned down the chance for the Academy Award-winning actress to star in a Bond-spinoff film for $80 million.
“The plan was foiled when MGM got cold feet about the film’s $80 million budget. That decision left Broccoli incensed,” Variety reports. “One of her main goals as steward of 007 has been to shake off some of the chauvinism that characterized Bond’s appearances in the novels and early films.”
The timing of a 007-spinoff film on Jinx Johnson would have made sense. Not only was Berry fresh off her historic Oscar win, but she was already a box office draw due to her role as Storm in the X-Men film franchise. In addition, the 2000s saw successful women-fronted action films such as Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider, Milla Jovovich’s Resident Evil and Charlize Theron’s Æon Flux.
READ MORE:
Photo: MGM
From Harlem to Hollywood, get the Black entertainment news you need in your inbox daily.
